Sexual Abuse Scandal at Sandhurst Military Academy

Nearly 200 women have sought help after suffering sexual abuse whilst at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst – a charity has reported.

Salute Her UK, which supports female military personnel, has claimed that there is an ‘epidemic’ of rape culture across the military.

In relation to women serving at Sandhurst specifically, the charity said it has obtained figures showing nearly 200 women sought support over a period of more than two decades – with he most recent allegations understood to have been made within the last two months.

Survivors claim that sexual predators have operated freely since the academy began admitting women in 1984.

Sandhurst is one of several military academies across the UK and is the British Army’s initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of Sandhurst, Berkshire, though its ceremonial entrance is in Surrey.

Salute Her UK chief executive, Paula Edwards, said that over half of the 3,170 women on the charity’s database have reported rape during their time in the Armed Forces.

Of those, 177 claim to have been raped or sexually assaulted whilst serving at Sandhurst, according to the charity.

Ms. Edwards claims Salute Her receives 10 referrals a week for women who have been historically of recently raped.

‘Across the Armed Forces we’ve received around 600 reports from serving female troops. They want mental health support; many are feeling suicidal. The victim shaming is appalling. For many the reaction to reporting a sexual assault is more traumatising than the incident itself,’ explained Ms. Edwards.

Referring to a recent case at Sandhurst, where a report found that 19 sexual relationships had been taking place between instructors and cadets before a trainee took her own life, she spoke of a female cadet who ‘ended up withdrawing her allegation because being questioned about [the abuse] was so traumatising.’

‘I can think of at least five other stand-out cases at Sandhurst in the last couple of years, since the death of Olivia Perks. So, I don’t think enough has been done to change the culture there.’

It is the latest scandal for the Berkshire academy after a report found.

The allegations come after the Royal Navy was forced to launch an investigation into sexual assault allegations on board nuclear submarines earlier this year as well as sexual misconduct scandals in the Red Arrows and RAF.

The Ministry of Defence’s policy on Zero Tolerance to Sexual Offences and Sexual Relationships Between Instructors and Trainees was published in March this year.

This was followed by the Zero Tolerance to Unacceptable Sexual behaviour policy, which went live on November 19th. Neither of these policies apply retrospectively.

New measures being developed would ensure commanding officers who, when found by the Service Complaints Ombudsman to have fallen short of expected standards in handling service complaints, receive appropriate consequences that appear on their employment records.

A ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘Young recruits deserve to be treated with respect, not taken advantage of. That is why the Armed Forces has a zero-tolerance approach to sexual assault and any allegations reported will be investigated, with immediate action taken.’

‘The new independent Serious Crime Unit, set up to investigate serious crimes across our tri-services, independent of the chain of command, will ensure anyone found guilty will face the full weight of the law and immediate dismissal.’

‘In further recognition of how seriously allegations of this nature are taken, the Defence Secretary is bidding for new legislation that would make it a formal offence in military law for those found guilty of sexual relationships with new recruits, potentially resulting in court marshal and a custodial sentence.’

The Ministry of Defence has published a Defence-wide strategy for how rape and serious sexual offences are handled within the Service Justice System.

In 2021 a report led by Tory MP, and former soldier, Sarah Atherton, found that almost two thirds of women had experienced bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination while serving in the Army.